1st April 2011

Today we are pleased to welcome Thomas Grimwood’s parents, Adam and Cinzia, on behalf of the Hope 4 Thomas fund. Adam is a work colleague and friend of our Press Officer, John Moore “Moorsie”, as well as being an occasional follower of the Cards.

Their son, Thomas is 4 years old, and was born with cerebral palsy, a speech and language disorder and a social communication disorder.

Thomas' condition means that his muscles are extremely stiff, and he cannot walk properly, or run and jump like other children. He walks on the tip-toes, has very poor balance, regularly falls over, and tires very quickly. Cerebral palsy is incurable, and here, Thomas faces a series of painful operations as he grows up. He will increasingly be in pain as he gets older and heavier, as his muscles will struggle to cope, which may result in him being wheelchair bound.

There is an operation called SDR which is performed in St Louis in the USA, which would permanently release the spasticity in Thomas’s legs, allowing him to walk properly, with his heels on the ground, and do all the other things that children take for granted. Thomas is an "excellent candidate" for this operation - which has a 100% success rate and has been performed over 2000 times over more than 20 years.

Thomas is a happy and determined little boy, and this operation would be life-changing for him, enabling him to have a much brighter and less painful future.

His family aim to have the operation done in Summer 2011, but they need to raise at least £45,000.